http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/24 Recent articles about the San Francisco Giants en-us A lot of kids growing up get excited for the normal made up holidays…Valentine's Day, Halloween, the last day of school. Me…I always got jazzed up about the day the Hall of Fame announcement was made. Sure, it doesn't have some fancy name or some wing at the Hallmark store dedicated to it, but it was, for a couple hours in January…my Christmas. Well, TECHNICALLY, Christmas was Christmas…but you get the idea. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:58:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295735 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295735 While most Yankees fans are clamoring for a left fielder or another starting pitcher as the July 31 trade deadline looms, one overlooked position seems to be that of catcher. It appears Jorge Posada is lost for the season, and it could be that he is no longer able to play as an everyday backstop again. In the meantime, Jose Molina has filled in as the regular catcher, with very mediocre results. While he is a decent defensive player, his .220 batting average, .260 on-base percentage and .300 slugging percentage are laughable. You'll take that out of a back-up catcher one game per week, maybe. Jose's brother, Bengie Molina, on the other hand is a whole different story. Sure, the Giants catcher may be the slowest baseball player since Cecil Fielder, but beyond that, it's hard to find something he doesn't do well. This guy is simply a pro's pro. He defends well, rarely letting balls get by him, and he is second in the National League when it comes to throwing out would-be base stealers, having gunned down 34.5 percent this season. And while handling pitching staffs is sometimes an overrated quality, he is one of the best. But fielding aside, Molina is always a threat at the plate with men on base. He certainly rivals Posada when it comes to catchers hitting in the clutch, and he's been doing so ever since his Angels days, when he actually protected Vladimir Guerrero for a time. On a young San Francisco Giants team, Bengie is the unquestioned leader. On the Yankees, he would be a welcome veteran who could add some pop to the lineup and provide a reliable presence behind the plate. And being that he's under contract through 2009, he might make Posada's possible transition to 1B/DH a little smoother. The only question is: Do the Giants let him go? While San Francisco drafted Florida State phenom Buster Posey with the fifth pick in this year's amateur draft, the young catcher is likely a couple years away from The Show. GM Brian Sabean won't let him go for nothing. New York will need to dangle a couple of solid prospects, certainly making a better offer than what the Giants got from the Brewers for the pinch-hitter deluxe Ray Durham. So let the Molina brothers unite in The Bronx. It could make for a joyous reunion. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:25:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295528 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295528 Whoever is walking the beat in the Phillies locker room this season is more Chief Wiggum than Sgt. Rowand. So what, if anything, would Aaron Rowand do if Jimmy Rollins was pulling this B.S. on his watch? Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:40:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295505 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295505 OK, so I'm on my greatest players kick but there is just so much history to be told in each sport. This list is a collection of the greatest players who fell short of just one goal, to win a title. Here's the list of the greatest players never to hoist a championship trophy in order of greatness: www.rawsportsblog.com Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:03:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295203 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295203 Quote from the Mercury News: "[Barry Bonds] has nothing to prove there," Jeff Borris told the Associated Press. "He doesn't need to go to an independent team and hit two home runs a night hoping to get attention to prove that he still has the skills that would warrant him playing at the major league level." Well now that you put it that way, Mr. Borris, I challenge you to put Barry Bonds on an independent league team. I will bet that he does not average two home runs a game in however long his stint is with that organization. Long Island DucksJust because your client cannot find a single team to pay him a low six-figure salary for the remainder of this season (even the Yankees are balking on him), you have to go out and attack independent leagues like the Atlantic League? In fact, I am not even sure that Barry Bonds would have a spot on the Long Island Ducks starting roster. Their outfielders include Carl Everett, Nook Logan, and Richard Hidalgo. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:33:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294984 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294984 Screaming Sports' Drew Thibodeau breaks out another Screaming Sports original. With so many valuable fantasy studs going down with injury, Drew decided it was time to take a look at several replacements. So if you're one of the many fantasy GM's who have been ravaged by injury, then this piece is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:40:26 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294793 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294793 As Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds play out what appears to be their final years in baseball I'm reminded of the all-time greatest father-son duo's to ever suit up. The obvious one's are the Bond's, Griffey's and the Manning's, but over time there have been many more than just three families to grace the record books. Without further adieu here's the list in order of greatness. www.rawsportsblog.com Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:39:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294503 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294503 It seems as if no one in the NL West wants first place. It is truly sad when the Rangers would be in 1st place if after the All Star break if they were in the NL and they're only 4 games over .500. No NL West team is above .500 as of July 21, 2008. So what seems to be the problem? Could it be that most teams in both leagues are having difficulty winning on the road, a 2008 phenomenon? It's not that these teams lack talent, they're just not performing. The San Diego Padres have good pitching with Jake Peavy, Chris Young (before the injury), Greg Maddux and Randy Wolfe, but 40 year old Trevor Hoffman might just be showing his age despite having only 3 blown saves thus far. Their infield is OK with Adrian Gonzalez (1B) having another great year in a non-hitter friendly park, Khalil Greene at SS and Kevin Kouzmanoff is solid at 3B. Where they need help is at catcher (due to injury) and the OF. They're not even playing .500 baseball at home, let alone only having 15 road wins so far and their runs scored/against difference is a - 99. Geoff Young, author of the Padres blog "Ducksnorts", if you're reading this, what is your take on the situation that has plagued them so far this year? The San Francisco Giants started out well, but now find themselves close to the bottom of the division which is where most people expected them to be this year. Sorry Giant fans, but it's true. Now don't get too depressed, look on the bright side. You have two great young pitchers in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum and if Barry Zito can learn to breathe out of his eyelids once again, he might round out one of the best starting three rotation in the major leagues. Your outfield is also in decent shape with Aaron Rowand in center, Randy Winn in right and the young speedster Fred Lewis in left. But your infield is a mess especially after Ray Durham was traded. Now you only have Rich Aurilia (1B/SS/3B) when he's healthy, but he's not the player he once was. As for your catcher, Benjie Molina, his better days are behind him although he is having a decent year. He still shouldn't be a cleanup hitter. That right there should tell you something! J It has recently been mentioned that manager Bruce Bochy has informed SS Omar Vizquel that his playing time will be reduced in the second half so that they can see what they have for young talent at the position. His glove work is still one of the best in the game, even in his 40's, but he's below the Mendoza line offensively. Can someone over at Bay City Ball or The Giants Baseball Blog shed some light on the direction their team is going towards. The Colorado Rockies have a potent line up when healthy, especially at Coors Field, but find themselves 7 games out of first place and smack dab in the middle of this division. What I see as a number one problem is the last of good solid pitching. They lost a few arms from the starting rotation and the bullpen from their trip to the World Series last year. They do still have their ace in Aaron Cook and their young gunslinger in Ubaldo Jimenez, but he is too inconsistent to be a number two starter in nasty Coors Field. In Coors park, you need a good pitching staff to survive, even with the Humidor. Young SS Troy Tulowitzki has been either slumping or hurt for most of the year so far (2 stints on the DL) and things have gotten so bad that there are rumors of trading set up man/closer Brian Fuentes and/or LF Matt Holliday who was once again an All Star and is even signed through 2009. They still have the speedy Willy Taveras in CF and Brad Hawpe, but even he is struggling as he always does against lefties. Then there's 3B Garrett Adtkins who is currently playing 1B for the injured Todd Helton (back woes). Their runs scored, by no surprise is the best in the division, but it is dwarfed by their division high runs allowed which leaves them with a negative split (-75) that is worse than the SF Giants. This might be a stretch, but I think this stat tells a lot. Maybe someone over at Purple Row can elaborate more on the state of the Rockies for us. We're all eyes and ears! The Los Angeles Dodgers have a new manager this year and with him comes a wealth of knowledge about how to win at this game. As you all know, it's the well respected Joe Torre, formally the manager of the NY Yankees for the previous 12 seasons. They host the lowest runs against total in the division at 405 and that's with # 1 starter Brad Penny, RP Scott Proctor, SP Jason Schmidt and closer Takashi Saito on the DL for the better parts of this year. Starters Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and especially their rookie from Japan, Hiroki Kuroda have held the fort so far this year. They have gone to the youth movement for most of the year, a smart move if you ask me, with James Loney at 1B, Blake DeWitt at 3B with Matt Kemp and Andre Either in the OF to go along with fellow outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones, who currently just came off the DL and has been disappointing when healthy. SS Rafael Furcal started off hot as a firecracker, but landed on the DL not too long into the season and is now out for the year with a back injury. Nomar Garciaparra is now back at SS at least until they find a replacement. Nomar just isn't the same player he was in Boston. His fielding and power have both gone south due to various injuries. Both Jeff Kent (2B) and Russell Martin (C) are having typical years for the Dodgers. In Martin's case, that means an All Star performance yet again while also filling in at 3B (the position he was drafted in) for a few games due to injuries to DeWitt and Nomar. Typical set up man Jonathan Broxton has also been his typical good self even when called upon to close when Saito's been hurt or on the DL. What insight can Dodger Thoughts, from the baseball toaster add to this discussion? The Arizona Diamondbacks are also going young and were lights out to start the year, but soon fizzled out come May and have continued to do so thus far into July, too. As an example, the injury to Eric Brynes not only slowed him down and kept him from stealing bases, but he is now lost for most, if not all of the season. This has forced them to switch 1B Conor Jackson to LF duties and now rookie RF Justin Upton is also on the DL (oblique) as of the 19th. Upton's injury has placed utility man Chris Burke into a starting role in RF. The pitching has been very good most of the time with starters Brandon Webb, newly acquired during the off season Dan Haren, Doug Davis (even after his short cancer scare), Micah Owings and 45 year old Randy Johnson. Owings started off red hot, but has recently cooled off considerably in the past month or so due to control issues and the like. Their relief pitchers are highlighted by Set up man Tony Pena (who might close some day), Chad Qualls, Doug Slaten and current closer Brandon Lyon. The remaining infielders aren't too shabby either with Orlando Hudson at 2B, Stephen Drew (J.D.'s little brother) at SS and Mark Reynolds at 3B with Chad Tracy back from injury playing 1B, but will now be platooning with recently re-aquired 1B Tony Clark and Chris Snyder behind the plate. Anything to add from the desert on behalf of their team from either AZ Snakepit or MVN's Out in the Desert? This is really a two team race right now unless something drastic happens between the two teams who are currently tied for first, but are both still under .500; the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. Joe Torre is an advantage for the Dodgers, but I still like the talent on the Diamondbacks to take this division. NL WEST W L PCT GB HOME PCT ROAD PCT RS RA DIFF Arizona 49 50 .495 - 29-21 .580 20-29 .408 437 432 5 LA Dodgers 49 50 .495 - 25-24 .510 24-26 .480 422 405 17 Colorado 43 58 .426 7 29-22 .569 14-36 .280 457 532 -75 San Francisco 40 58 .408 8.5 17-31 .354 23-27 .460 392 464 -72 San Diego 38 62 .380 11.5 23-30 .434 15-32 .319 376 475 -99 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:59:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294281 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294281 New York, New York. What will they think of next. Hey folks Matt Eisenman here and im about to talk about the New York Yankees. I know some Boston Red Sox fan will probably say something and i dont blame them I would get tired of it too. Here it goes. The Yankees need one big bat to help them get one big run, hense the name of the article. What Big Bat do they need, or should i say who do they need because it cetaintly isnt a Louiville Slugger they could trade a player for ten of those. Xavier Nady the big name on the block from the Artist formally known as the Pittsburgh Pirates. Well the question who do they have to give up to get a player who is making a great name for himself. The bigger question who do they have to give up? Frankly I am tired of giving up young talent but who would they want. Give them Ian Kennedy Johnny Damon and someone else crappy. What ever we have to do to get it done that doesnt include giving away a young star. Another person they should consider is Mark Texeira. He is young has better mobility than Giambi and would be a good fit at first base and fill the bat void. He would be a good fit. To think the San Francisco Giants were thinking of trading Tim Lincecum for Matsui at the beginning of the season I don't think so anymore. Lets get this straight as a Yankee fan I am not going to settle for Richie Sexson. The man just can't hit anything anymore. If he is supposed to solve are problem Cashman has gone more insane than ever before. What to do, what to do? I really couldn't tell you. I'd rather trade younger for younger. I don't like veterans all the time they are so boring. What I think we should do is trade Bobby Abreu away. We will lose him to free agency after the year because we won't want him back so why not get some value from him. All I am saying in a very unclear way is the Yankees could be one big bat away from making yet another impresive run to make the playoffs. They have options Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Mark Texeira, heck even Barry Bonds wouldn't hurt. Something is going to happen and it will happen soon when nobody sees it coming. They will end up trading young talent away for a 35 year old pitcher. That Brian Fuentes stuff should just stop. Quit it, the man is 32 and not getting any younger. For a reliever that is old and they don't have alot of baseball life left in them. Please anyone wishing to inquire a Brian Fuentes or Damaso Marte if thats even his name should look in the mirror and be like what am i doing. Fuentes ill give him credit he is doing great but not worth a young player who has a chance to give you more and be there for a longer time. I really do not know what is going to happen. I think it will get real interesting by the last day and very shortely. If Ray Durham is the last big thing ill be shocked. The Yankees have alot of chips to play with they just don't know how much to put in. Let's not go all in for once lets only bet 1/4 of the pile. Come on Hank it hasn't worked in a while. Just focus on free agency and stop trying to give away more than you should for someone who might be a rental. Save your money for a C.C. Sabathia or a Ben Sheets for next season much more worth it and a better investment. What do you think the Yankees should do? What do you think the Yankees will do? Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:32:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293945 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293945 Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon goes over a week of upcoming matchups and determines who you should sit, who you should start and why. Surprisingly, there are three pretty big names that should be riding the pine this coming week. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:06:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293687 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293687 Dissecting the Texas Rangers' growing backstop conundrum; what would it take to pry Ian Kinsler loose from the Rangers? Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:58:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293555 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293555 There hasn't been much talk of it, possibly because the Giants have been out of the hunt since February, but it's looking more and more like shortstop Omar Vizquel may be at the end of his leash. Vizquel who turned 41 earlier this year is struggling though the worst season of his career and with a option worth more then $5 million dollars it's looking as if his playing days are coming to an end. In the prime of Vizquel's career he was a member of the AL Central winning Cleveland Indians hitting for a solid average, posting a high on base percentage and of course providing game changing plays from short. While with the Indians he picked up 8 consecutive Gold Gloves and for his career has a staggering total of 11 at the toughest defensive position on the diamond. These days even Omar's once prized ranged is taking a hit along with his already weak bat. Vizquel is hitting just .167/.237/.192 this season and has just 4 extra base hits in 48 games for the Giants. While no one could expect him to steal 30 plus bases like he did as a member of the Indians Vizquel has almost completely stopped running notching just 18 steals over the last year and a half. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:19:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293133 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293133 On the surface this looks like a trade to bolster the Brewers bench, which it probably is, but look deeper and there just might be some big fantasy implications. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:57:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292846 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292846 The Brewers beat the Giants on Saturday, 8-5, to win their third straight game and take the series from the Giants. Carlos Villanueva picked up the win in relief of Ben Sheets. Salomon Torres picked up his 16th save of the season. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:52:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292720 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292720 Somehow I missed this in Home Run Derby's Top MLB Promotions of 2008.  I think it was because I excluded bobbleheads from the list. But Friday Night (July 18) was Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night in San Francisco.  Who's Crazy Crab?  Well, The Crab was a mascot the San Francisco Giants paraded out in 1984 as an [...] Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:42:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292633 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292633